


Almost said it

by EarthsickWithoutYou



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Romance, Shameless Smut, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 21:09:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13667340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EarthsickWithoutYou/pseuds/EarthsickWithoutYou
Summary: Harry comforts Caitlin when decorating for Valentine's Day stirs up memories of H.R, and the closer they get, the clearer it becomes that they very much want to be each other's valentine.





	Almost said it

Once upon a Valentine's Day afternoon...

“Snow?” Harry asked in a low, concerned voice. As he walked into the lab, Caitlin looked up from the box of Valentine’s Day decorations she’d grabbed from the storage room after belatedly realizing it was February 14. She wiped tears from both eyes and gave a startled laugh.

“Hey, Harry. I didn’t see you there,” she said in a small, choked voice. Then she felt his warm, reassuring hand resting on her shoulder and let her wet cheek slide down against it. 

“What’s wrong?” His breath lingered close by her face, his other arm reaching up to wrap around her waist before dropping back by his side. 

“It’s just that…I almost forgot about these,” Caitlin answered, swallowing back more tears. She slipped her hand into the box and it came up full of shiny red heart decorations. “There’s like a zillion more in there. Conversation heart balloons, banners, confetti, you name it. We used to only have a couple of pretty low-key Valentines items that I’d throw up every year, until…last year, when H.R. was here. He loved the holiday, I mean, it had a different name on his Earth, but the gist was the same...ha! He wanted us to ‘feel the love.’” She giggled at the memory and Harry just watched her and listened intently. “He always wanted to make us happy. And, uh…he taught us not to take life so seriously all the time. I think I miss that. One thing I know for sure is that we all miss H.R.”

“He sure sounds like the opposite of me, not that I couldn’t tell from the couple of times I met him,” Harry noted. “I wish I could have known him more…done something to help save him from Savitar. I wish I hadn’t spent so long on my Earth before coming back. A whole bunch of times, I’ve wanted to apologize to you all for that.”

Caitlin dropped the hearts and turned fully into his hug, surprised at how his arms immediately gripped her back. “Harry, it’s not your fault.”

“I know, but I’m sorry anyway. Listen, this isn’t about me, it’s about you. What can I do to help? If there’s anyone who doesn’t deserve to feel sad on Valentine’s Day, it’s you, Caitlin.” He rubbed her back and she smiled at his rare usage of her first name, firming up the intimate feelings that had crept into the conversation between them. 

“You’re already doing it, Harry. Thanks for being here for me. Sometimes we all just need a shoulder to cry on, you know?” She pulled her head back slightly to look at his gorgeous, slightly perplexed face as he pushed his glasses back on his nose. It was as though figuring out how her words and touch made him feel was wrapping Harry in confusion. Caitlin longed to be the one to unravel that baffled tangle of repression. Where to start?

 _A shoulder to cry on sure isn’t the only thing we need,_ she thought, nibbling her lip in contemplation of what to say or do next. _I think we need a miracle._

“Hey,” she decided to say, stepping from his embrace in what she hoped was only a temporary deprivation. She licked her cherry-tinted lips, also hoping that she didn’t have raccoon eyes. “Want to help me put these up?”

“I’d be only too happy to assist,” Harry promised, enthusiastic in his attempt to cheer her up. He reached over and lifted a shopping bag from the chair where he’d deposited it when her sadness had taken over his attention. “I brought these, too.” He pulled out a bag of cinnamon heart candies and Caitlin smirked, grabbing a pink plastic bowl and pouring them all in. 

“You old softie, you just couldn’t resist, could you?” She popped a candy in her mouth and he watched her suck on the spicy heart with an intrigued look that made her feel startled by more than the sudden burst of hot flavor on her tongue. “Wow, these are strong.”

“First of all, they were on sale. I normally don't go in much for Valentine's Day,” Harry remarked, tossing several into his mouth. “Secondly, where do you want this?” Caitlin watched as he unfurled a long banner with every love-themed emoji emblazoned across it in bright colors.

They covered the whole room in every delightfully silly piece of Valentine’s cheer which H.R. had collected in all his Cupid-esque glory. “Wait, that’s backwards,” Caitlin noted about one of the hearts Harry had stuck on the wall.

“Oh, yeah, the color does look like it’s brighter on the other side,” he observed as she stood on a step-stool to adjust it. Her fingertips couldn’t quite clasp the cardboard decoration, so she went up on tiptoe, prompting Harry to rush over.

“Hey, Snow, take it easy there. You look like you’re about to topple—”

“ _Whooaaaa_ ,” Caitlin cried out, wobbling on her high heels. She fell down, landing right in Harry’s waiting arms.

“Over,” he finished, and they both burst out laughing. He set her feet back on the floor but they lingered in each other’s arms, her fingers grazing his arm muscles as the giggles faded and their faces turned more serious. 

Without another thought, Caitlin and Harry kissed, tightening their embrace. The tingling sensation of the spicy cinnamon and sugar on their lips and tongues intensified the kiss, making it all too easy to deepen it, to explore each other with unrestrained enjoyment. This went on for quite a while, until their hands began to wander. Caitlin reached under Harry’s black t-shirt to rake her fingers over his back as Harry cupped her ass, the shamelessness of the way he massaged her making it obvious he’d wanted to do that for a long time.

Only the loud slam of an item crashing to the floor in a room down the hall made them snap back to reality. The sound was followed by a string of curses from Cisco to Ralph, who must have dropped whatever it was and who was snarking back as per usual. Caitlin stared up at Harry as they both breathed heavily, hearts pounding, immersed in the shock of what they’d just been doing.

“That was uh, that was…” Harry scratched his head, looking for words.

“That was unexpected,” Caitlin put in awkwardly.

“Right, unexpected. A surprise. A surprise kiss!” Harry tried to joke, clearly having no clue how she wanted to play this.

“And groping session,” she added, blushing. _Which I’d like to immediately get back to,_ she thought.

“Mmmhmm, that was strange, a strange, unexpected, surprising thing for us to do, right?” Harry stepped back and looked almost alarmed, shaking Caitlin from her blissfully hazed state and making her start to worry. Maybe he didn’t want her like she so deeply _needed_ him? Could it have been a heat-of-the-moment, both-lonely-on-Valentine’s-Day…lapse? She knew that for her, it was no such thing. It was the build-up of every desire he’d created within her since they’d met. And…it was an expression of the fact that Caitlin really, really wanted Harry to be her valentine, dammit.

Crestfallen, she joined his game of deflection. “Yeah, totally, I mean, right! Why would the two of _us_ kiss?”

“Right, that was lunacy,” Harry said, but he wasn’t laughing. A sadness filled his eyes that actually reassured Caitlin. Perhaps this was just Harry’s way of trying to protect himself from getting hurt again, or trying to protect Caitlin from getting involved with him. Even though he cloaked it with egotistical proclamations on a regular basis, of course she knew that Harry struggled to accept his past mistakes, to believe he was more than a mess, to feel worthy. Despite everything that should have held her back from getting close enough, Caitlin _knew_ Harry in heart-achingly complex detail.

They stood there, separated by reappearing insecurities, Caitlin’s lips still beestung and cinnamon flavored. She could still feel his kiss and she wanted it again — and again, and again. 

“Maybe we—” Caitlin began falteringly, not willing to be defeated by his fears and her nervousness.

“Caitlin, I—” Harry began at the same time, his bright blue gaze burning for her. 

Before they could get any further, Cisco and Ralph brought their bickering into the room, not even noticing the way their co-workers were standing stock still, eye-screwing the living daylights out of each other.

“Caitlin, can you please tell this numb-skull to keep his butter fingers off my computer?” Cisco carried his laptop, which had snapped in two, in his arms, cradling it like it was a baby. “What’s _left_ of it, anyway.”

“Why does it look like Cupid threw up all over this place?” Ralph asked, taking a sip out of Harry’s coffee cup, another one of his annoyingly thieving habits which Wells was far too distracted to care about now. 

But Cisco laid the pieces of his laptop down on the desk beside him and let his eyes take in the scene with sentimental understanding. A happy, misty smile came over him as he murmured, “H.R.”

He glanced over at Caitlin and Harry, at last becoming aware of the romantic, soulful looks they were exchanging. His smile shifted to a knowing, reflective one, a bittersweetness losing its bitterness. Cisco knew that if H.R. was up there somewhere, looking down at Star Labs right now and watching over his old pals…well, he’d be pleased as punch by what was happening. Caitlin Snow and Harry Wells, finally admitting that they were crazy about each other. For a while, Cisco had worried that they’d never stop trying to hide the obvious love between them.

Cisco stayed quiet on the subject, knowing that his typical banter wasn’t going to help the tension that racked his lovestruck friends. Instead, he beckoned to Ralph, saying, “Hey, man, why don’t you help me fix this? You can make up for your reckless destruction of highly important Cisco Ramon property _and_ brush up on your technical know-how.”

“You got a deal,” Ralph agreed, looking relieved that Cisco had gotten over his irritation, and again pleased to be included, a part of the team. Doing that would have made H.R. happy, too, Cisco reflected. As he stole another subtle look over to where Caitlin was clearing her throat and putting the step-stool back in the closet, Cisco saw Harry trying to look anywhere but over at her. _Man, I hope they get together soon,_ he pondered wistfully, even sighing. Then he chortled to himself. Wait until he told Cynthia about this. She was always accusing him of being a total “shipper.”

*****************************************************************

That evening….

“ _Ooookaaayyy,_ ” Caitlin said to her own reflection in the mirror. “I can do this. Screw it! It’s Valentine’s Day.” All bets were off. Carpe diem. And all that. She tied her tan raincoat around her specially chosen apparel, then opened the front door of her apartment with a confident jerk.

She almost jumped right out of her skin because the very man she’d been charging out into the rainy night to find was standing directly before her. Harry gave her an apologetic, unquestionably adoring look as he held out a bouquet of red roses and a box of chocolates. Nestled beside the flowers was a bottle of champagne, and he looked like he was about to drop it all if she didn’t swoop in and save him. It seemed like they were meant to keep doing that for each other. _We’re a couple of klutzes in more ways than one,_ she thought with mingled euphoria and amusement.

“Thanks,” Harry said with a chuckle as Caitlin took the Valentine’s gifts from his shaking fingers. 

“Thank you, too. Now, get in here,” she insisted warmly. “And explain yourself.”

“I was a fool earlier today, that’s my explanation. I knew exactly why I kissed you, and I didn’t have the guts to say it out loud. So in the spirit of the holiday and finally shedding my suffocating inhibitions, I tell you now that I am one hundred percent, head over heels, bonkers, knocked-out, insane in love with you, Caitlin Snow. And I have been for ages.” He stopped to get his breath back, overwrought and driven wild with suspense at what her response would be.

Caitlin grinned as happy tears glazed her eyes. She ran the tiny distance to him and kissed his lips, grabbing him by his coat collar. “I should have said that I love you too, and that no amount of romantic tragedy and disaster in my history is enough to make me hold back from this for another second.”

“Were you coming to see me, too?” Harry asked, his voice husky with relief and joy that Caitlin returned his feelings. 

Smiling coyly, Caitlin stepped back and undid her coat, letting it fall open to reveal her red satin lingerie, complete with thigh highs and hot pink garters. “Too much?” she asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious about the very bold move she’d been ready to make.

“You’re stunning,” he told her bluntly, his eyes drinking her in, arousal and tenderness thickening his soft, sexy voice. The deliberate, detailed way he looked over every inch of her body made Caitlin’s breath catch in anticipation. Harry took her into his arms again, pulling off her coat and claiming her lips in his, picking back up where they’d left off earlier that day.

“You’re so unbelievably beautiful that it haunts me on a daily basis to even think about you, much less get to touch you and hold you,” Harry whispered raggedly against her ear, making a shiver go down Caitlin’s spine. His mouth traveled down her neck, kissing and nipping at her until he sucked down on her flesh and her eyes widened while an electric shock hit her core. “Much less get to show you how desperately I want you.”

Caitlin sank her fingers into his soft, messy black hair, moaning as he continued distributing his oral skills across her cleavage, then down to her stomach, pausing over her panties as her breath quickened even more. “Touch me,” she begged, reveling in the hot, wet sensation when Harry obeyed, first laying an open-mouthed kiss against her still-barely-clothed pussy, then flicking his tongue across the same spot until she gasped in painfully teased-out pleasure. 

She took him firmly by the shoulders and tugged him back up to face her, placing a molten kiss on his scrumptiously full lips, applying suction to the lower one before tilting up to delicately bite the upper. He groaned and went along very willingly as Caitlin tore his coat off, then hurriedly unbuttoned his crisp white shirt. “You dressed up for me, too,” she murmured, removing the shirt off and letting it fall from her fingers to the floor.

“I thought the occasion called for it,” he said in a quiet, tight voice, his eyes glued to her hands on his belt. Caitlin slowly pulled the belt off and let it trail from her grasp as she turned and walked into the bedroom. 

“Harry,” she told him as her chest rose and fell rapidly, her heart bursting with love and desire. “Not to be repetitive, but come. Here.” 

“I intend to, but you first,” Harry replied in a sinfully intense tone that robbed the phrase of any cheesiness or humor. He really wasn’t kidding. Caitlin felt the throbbing moisture between her legs growing hotter as Harry smiled a little smugly up at her, hovering again at her panties. His ego was back. She was willing to bet that she was in way over her head, and couldn’t have been happier about the fact.

He ran his finger over her soaked underwear and sighed at her answering whimper. “First things first,” he decided, reaching up to unclasp her bra. “You’re exquisite,” Harry added as he stroked each breast, running the back of his hand over her hardened nipples until she arched her back. He pressed kisses all over her chest, then traced her nipples lovingly with his tongue, carefully nipping and sucking until Caitlin thought she was going to come just from this part of his foreplay.

“Harry,” she pleaded, taking his hand and laying it against the red, shiny fabric which was almost all she still had on. He took the cue, ending her sublimely torturous state of suspense, peeling the panties off and gently nudging her thighs apart. She let her knees fall helplessly to the bed as he stroked at her pussy with that wicked tongue...the same one which never failed to turn her on when he spoke in that thoughtful, devastatingly sensual tone he reserved only for her. This was a continuation of the same sensation he’d always provoked inside her, and Caitlin couldn’t help a single one of the fierce, demanding moans that he inspired the closer he urged her towards coming. He found the exact spot he’d been so devotedly searching out, then sucked down and gave a lingering lick that made Caitlin fall apart completely. “God, Harry,” she cried out, one hand still holding his head and the other clutching the pillow with all her might.

“You're amazing," Harry said, licking his lips in satisfaction. He kissed her mouth again, her own flavor still lingering, and Caitlin gasped again. She didn’t know what was more overwhelming: his obviously extreme enjoyment of going down on her and making her come for him, or the way his heart slammed against her palm when she rested it there. His skin was flushed, his own breathing chaotic when Caitlin pushed his pants off and then whispered, “I’m on the pill. Don’t stop.” 

She made the next move herself, though, urging him onto his back so that she could pull down his boxer briefs and envelop his hard-on in her eager mouth, longing to return the pleasure he’d just given her. But Harry didn’t have the patience to wait more than a few kisses and licks before he grabbed her by the hips, positioning her over his pulsing member. Caitlin threw her head back with a deep sigh as she sank down, taking all of him in, the fullness and length of him astonishing her. She rocked her hips as he grasped her tighter there, thrusting upward as she rode him, both of them panting. Harry cupped her breasts and roved his fingers over her nipples again, ensuring that Caitlin could only withstand just so much more of this before she surrendered to an overpowering orgasm. Harry cried out in unison with her, and then when she had to disconnect from him, he could only bear the separation for a heartbeat before he pulled her closely into his embrace, kissing her face and stroking her back, murmuring over and over that he loved her.

“I love you, too,” Caitlin whispered, kissing back, satiated but still blossoming over the very many tantalizing ideas of how else they might drive each other past the edge.

Great minds thought alike, of course, but there were other needs that arose at the moment. “You hungry?” Harry asked playfully, a dual meaning very clear in his seductive tone.

“Am I ever,” she purred, but then she sat up and pouted as he jumped out of bed and started putting clothes back on. “Where are you going?”

“To that restaurant next door. They have amazing oysters, remember that time we all went? I'll bring some back for us.” He put on an innocent act that didn’t fool Caitlin for a moment.

“Raw bar?” She raised her eyebrows accusingly, sitting up and running a hand through her sex-tousled hair. “You’re bad, Harry.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” he answered merrily. 

“Harry, wait,” she beckoned, causing him to turn back. “Happy Valentine’s day,” she grinned.

“Happy Valentine’s day, love,” Harry replied with a resplendent smile.


End file.
